Mark Glover's blog includes reviews of the latest motor vehicles introduced for sale in the United States, his take on various aspects of the auto industry and periodic insights on auto racing at home and abroad.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Sacramento, California – They call it the Prius Prime,
but Prius Mega, Prius Ultra and Prius Supreme would have worked too.

New for 2017,
the Prius Prime is a plug-in, five-door hatchback that’s simply the best Prius
I’ve ever driven.Toyota calls it’s the most advanced and best
equipped of all Prius offerings today.No argument from me there.

There are so
many ways the Prime stands out in the ever-growing Prius field.It literally looks different from other Prius
midsize models with unique, sporty styling on the front and back.It rides low for maximum aerodynamic
efficiency.

The Prius
Prime also has a “dual wave” rear window that reportedly enhances the car’s
ability to cut through the wind, but the horizontal strip splitting the rear
view from the driver’s seat takes some getting used to.

Inside, the
dual colors and materials made me feel like I was in command of a very special vehicle
capable of lifting into space.

From the
commander’s chair, I had easy access to controls for quad-LED headlights,
heated/power exterior mirrors, heated front seats and a color head-up display.

Dominating the
center stack of controls is the mother of all display screens, a massive 11.6-inch, high-definition wonder that is vertically positioned.It’s like having a giant flat-screen TV in your car, complete with
detailed map data, audio information and a even a little Prius avatar that
greets you when you start up and drives down and away to wish you farewell when you shut
off the car.

In sport mode,
the tested Advanced model was the peppiest Prius I’ve sampled, with enthusiastic jumps from a
standing start and impressive acceleration on the fly.My Prime was instantly responsive,
something I cannot say about other hybrids I’ve driven.

In
electric-only mode, the Prius Prime is capable of traveling up to 25 miles, and
in full gas-electric configuration, you can figure on driving forever and a day
– an EPA-estimated 133 miles per gallon equivalent.

The list of
safety features is tech-loaded and exceptional.

Given all
this, it’s no surprise that the Prius Prime is priced higher than your typical
Prius hybrid -- $33,100 to start, and with my special package of extras, the
bottom line on the sticker read $36,305.

In my
estimation, it's worth that, especially for an environmentally-conscious motorist
who wants more from a hybrid and plans on keeping the machine for a decade or
more.

Anything not
to like?For me, with audio systems off,
the Prius Prime emits a high-pitched whine that sounds very much like an
emergency vehicle approaching from perhaps a block away.I eventually adjusted to it, but it shook me
the first couple times around.

Sacramento, California – Now hear
this: The monster-selling Toyota Corolla gets a major reworking for the 2017
model year.

What better
way to celebrate 50 years on the market?Since its 1966 debut, more than 43 million Corollas have been sold.

The 2017
restyling, additions and tweaks only enhance what has made the Corolla so
popular for so many years: An affordable, generously equipped, safe sedan
priced within range of most personal and household budgets.

What’s not to
like?

My tester was
the sporty-looking Corolla XSE with an easy-on-the-eyes bottom line of $23,545
on the sticker.

That price
gets you standard goodies that include a power tilt/slide moonroof, a rear
spoiler, heated front seats, 17-inch alloy wheels, disc brakes on front and
rear, a multimedia package with Siri eyes-free command capability, steering
wheel-mounted paddle shifters and much more.

My tester also had
a continuously variable transmission and a sport drive mode.

The most
obvious change for 2017 is the new, race car-worthy front grille spiced up with
LED headlamps.It might be over-the-top
for some.Not for me.

Power comes
from a 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine with variable valve timing and
intelligence.At 132 horsepower, it’s
not going to snap your neck, but the power plant is responsive and more than
adequate for most road situations.

And the
four-cylinder engine dishes up an additional bonus: exceptional fuel mileage
ratings of 28 miles per gallon in the city and 35 mpg on the highway.

The 2017
Corolla’s safety package is extensive and includes an intelligent pre-collision
system, enhanced braking features and a lane-departure alert.That’s the short list.Combined, they make it difficult for even the
most careless driver to screw it up.

The Corolla
has been around for so long that I believe its mass appeal sometimes gets
swallowed up in the blizzard of auto offerings that are new and shiny.That’s the auto-selling game of course, but
buyers seem to understand that few, if any, practical sedans have as much to offer as the
Corolla.

How else to
explain the long-standing, superior sales numbers? And yes, the Corolla remains
the most popular midsize sedan sold in the United States.

This latest
Corolla does nothing to take away from that storied history.It actually adds to it.

But before you
get your face back in order, you have to know what you’re talking about.

Here’s the
quick course: The full-size G90 is produced by Hyundai’s luxury division,
Genesis, and the four-door model replaces what we called the Hyundai Equus.

Got that?OK, here’s the shock and awe part: The
sticker on my rear-driver 3.3T Premium G90 had a bottom line of $69,050.

That was
without a single add-on.Even in the
ever-changing auto industry, it’s hard to get my head around a $70,000 car with
Hyundai DNA.

But that’s
quickly banished by other awesome things such as over-the-top luxury, superior
technology features and pin-me-to-the-seat performance.

This is a
full-on luxury sedan that absolutely ranks with anything put out by BMW, Acura,
Lexus or Mercedes-Benz.In fact, given
all the G90 has, it’s probably a bargain for the listed price.

Let’s start
with looks.It’s what I’d call
a substantial vehicle, as in seemingly capable of consuming small sedans and crossovers.Riding on 19-inch alloy wheels, my ride
matched the look – bank vault quiet and rock-solid in all conditions.

The 3.3-liter,
twin-turbo V-6 has an advertised 365 horsepower, and it dishes up what I call
“walk away power.”By that, I mean that
the engine does not scream, and the chassis does not buck.The car simply walks away from surrounding autos with the slightest nudge on the accelerator.

Give it more
than a nudge, and it fairly runs away from the pack, like the other cars are
frozen in time.It’s a feeling of power
that can go to your head.

You might be
brought back down to the earth with the realization that the power plant wants
to drink premium fuel, and it guzzles it at a rate of 17 miles per gallon in
the city and 24 mpg on the highway.

Moving inside,
five people can ride in supreme comfort.From the driver’s seat, the all-around view is excellent, and numerous
comfort/convenience/entertainment perks are within easy reach.

The G90's standard goodies
are not what you see in most cars, even luxury models.That includes the TWENTY-TWO-way power
driver’s seat, the SEVENTEEN-speaker audio system and the 12.3-inch,
high-definition navigation system.

The placement
of leather and wood trim in the cabin is elegant, the high-tech safety systems
are remarkable and the warranties (as usual for a Hyundai creation) are
excellent.

If you’re one
of those motorists fortunate enough to have a fat bank account, but still rank
value for your dollar at the top of your shopping list, the Genesis G90 is
probably the sedan of your dreams.

Friday, February 3, 2017

Check out my review of the all-new 2017 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack in the latest, February 2017, edition of theNorthern & Central California Cruisin’ News, published out of Folsom,California, by John Sweeney and Evonne Sotelo.The “Hot Laps” reviews, along with my "Oil Drips" observations on anything with wheels, appear monthly in the publication.

To subscribe to the Cruisin’ News, visitwww.cruisinnews.com, call (916) 933-0949 or send an e-mail request to cruisinnews@mac.com. Mailed requests for information should be sent to Cruisin’ News,P.O. Box1096, Folsom, CA 95763-1096.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Sacramento, California – The 2017
Acura MDX rolls into the current model year as a seriously reworked sport-utility
vehicle.It’s something to feel good as
the young year moves into February.

The new look
is a big step up, and the fabulous, lengthy list of standard features is sure
to turn the head of many a prospective buyer.

The sweetly
sculpted “diamond pentagon” grille looks like something you would see on a
horsepower-laden sports car, and your eyes are immediately drawn to it.The jewel
eye LED headlights also add flash to the restyled front end.

The MDX looks
low and aerodynamic in profile – even riding on 20-inch alloy wheels – and the sport-ute certainly cut through the air in a quiet, sure-footed way.

My tester was
the AWD Advance version, with power coming from a 3.5-liter V-6 engine with a
max horsepower rating of 290.Accelerations were sufficiently strong and smoothly handled through a
nine-speed automatic gearbox.

I disabled the
idle/stop feature, however, because it was just too clunky getting back to
business after a full stop.I also found
the visual “BRAKE” warning displayed in the dash to be overly sensitive.

Otherwise, the
MDX was easy to handle, with just the right amount of firmness in the steering
wheel and a surprising agility in tight spots.

A blizzard of
electronic safety and technology features watched and guarded my every
move.I’d recommend a thorough reading
of the owner’s manual, because the perks are numerous and sometimes difficult to master.

The tester had
some traditional features for which I was grateful during a recent cold
snap.The remote engine start was
particularly helpful, allowing me to step into a warm cabin and get right to
driving with hard frost melted off the front and rear glass.

Fuel mileage
was OK for this segment, at 19 miles per gallon in the city and 26 mpg on the
highway.

This MDX is a
genuine luxury liner, with the tester starting at $56,400.Given all the standard bells and whistles on my ride, I’d say the price was on point.

The
current-generation MDX earned a top-level, five-star safety rating from the
federal government.

With all the
improvements and technology stuffed into this MDX, I would think that buyers
would want to hang onto it for 10 years, minimum.So, if you’ve been wanting to reward yourself
with a state-of-the-art luxury SUV, the MDX should be at the top of your test drive
list.

Auto Enthusiasts

About

Mark Glover has been a professional journalist for 40 years. Since 1984, he has worked for The Sacramento Bee in California's capital city. He was the paper's auto editor from 2000-08, reviewing hundreds of motor vehicles during that time. His reviews currently appear at sacbee.com and in the Northern & Central California Cruisin' News published monthly out of Folsom, California. He is a former director on the board of the California Autombile Museum in Sacramento. A lifelong auto racing fan, Glover has attended the Indianapolis 500 since 1961. He has an extensive Indy 500 collection of programs, tickets and badges.